Did I Do the Right Thing? =S

[KeepMe]

Last night I called the police because of my neighbors disgusting, dirty, vile, worthless, scummy children. I have a history with these neighbors ever since they moved in behind me (we share a fence) and it hasn't been good. Ever since they moved in last Spring our neighbor has let her children do what they want ... including letting them abuse my dog.

 

Her kids have been seen by my parents, my boyfriend, myself, and even the neighbors that live beside me hit my dog, stab my dog with sticks, scare him, throw things at him, and even call him to the fence and kick him in the face. My dog was and is still just a puppy he just turned one last November. Last July little did I know her kids were tormenting my dog one day, when I got home he was acting a little different/skiddish. I leaned in to give him a kiss and he bit me in my face barely missing my eye. Immediately he was remorseful and tried licking me and ran in the corner and literally had tears coming from his eyes. I warned the neighbors beside me (they have a boy who plays with my dog) to be more cautious, and they told me that earlier they seen the kids torment my dog. I went to talk to their mother and she said "I'll handle it" and closed the door in my face. Obviously she never did because the kids were out there a couple weeks later again.

 

One day (this is all my fault) I let my dog outside like usual, he's always loved the out doors never chased anything, never killed anything, nothing. I would always let him out with my other dog while I ran errands and what not. I had to drive three hours away with my father and we let our dogs out. Came home to find my dogs well and okay in our yard however my neighbors beside me came over and told me that the neighbors behind me had a cat. I've never seen this cat before, and according to the neighbors it's an outdoor cat that never went in the house. Anyway, (this is confusing, I apologize) the neighbors beside the neighbors behind me seen the neighbors behind me cat run into my yard. My dog chased the cat from my yard into their yard and killed it ... Nobody seen it but the gal next to the neighbors behind me who are good friends. I was terrified having lost my job due to surgery and my dad working just to be able to pay off his house I could not handle a lawsuit.

 

My dad told me not to go over there and just see what happens, from them on I've kept my dog on a chain and the woman never came over and said anything, no lawsuit, nothing. Which I'm very thankful for and I felt horrible for the poor cat. Anyway, last night I was watching out my blinds as the neighbors let their dogs out. Since my dogs been chained up outside (only when he goes outside, he's an indoor dog) they walk along the fence and tease him. The neighbors have a jack russle and a wiener dog. The kid came out slapped a leash on the jack russle and every time the dog would walk he would jerk the chain back on purpose and choke it. This infuriated me but I continued to see if he would do anything to my dogs. He then took his jack russle behind a tree and strangled it! Once he choked it for about half a minute he grabbed something (I don't know if it was rocks or dirt or what) but he kept picking something off the ground and throwing it at the dog. The dog was hunkered down crawling on the ground but the kid had it close on a leash. He continued to throw stuff at it and then turned around and threw it at my dog. I flung the door opened and screamed really loud that he better not EVER touch my dog, and he better not throw anything in my fence or at my dogs again. He looked over at me and then just ignored me. I slammed my door and continued to watch him from my blinds. I guess he didn't realize I was still watching him and he grabbed the wiener dog and shoved him down on the ground by their shed. The wiener dog tried to get up and he shoved it again to get him to stop moving and then grabbed the russle by the scruff of his neck. Jerked the wiener dog up in his arm and dragged the russle back to his house.

 

I decided I would call the police about this situation, because no animal should go through that. I didn't want to speak to the mother since my dog did kill their cat, and we have had bad history. The police came to my door this morning and asked if I wanted to file a report, I said I didn't want any drama and they said they had to get officers involved and all of this. Now I'm starting to worry because the neighbors will know it was us who called. They never called on us when our dog killed their cat, so I don't want anything to spark and get crazy. I also wasn't calling to get the mother in trouble I just want her to see what her kids are doing and take this seriously. I know I did the right thing, but I hope it doesn't burn me in the end or cause' a huge conflict even more between us.

[turnera]

Hell YES you should have called the police! AND the animal shelter so they have their animals removed! Animals are like children; they are our responsibility because they can't defend themselves.

 

You are under no responsibility, by the way, regarding their cat, who went into YOUR yard.

[ZombieFacee]

You sure as hell did the right thing. If at all possible, get a camera that has a picture or video capability and make a record if you ever see it again. Animal abuse is one of the early signs of serial killers and psychopaths, and that needs to be handled. Those kids need to be taught a lesson. If I was their mother, I would have worn their backsides out.

[KeepMe]

Hell YES you should have called the police! AND the animal shelter so they have their animals removed! Animals are like children; they are our responsibility because they can't defend themselves.

 

You are under no responsibility, by the way, regarding their cat, who went into YOUR yard.

 

I just love animals and I know I did the right thing, and I thought of the consequences of them turning in my dog for killing their cat but I wasn't going to let their animals go through that, I had to call the police. I can't stand animal cruelty and if the mother wasn't going to do anything I know the police would. I don't live in the city (maybe it's a good thing, maybe not) I don't know how different city laws are compared to "small town" laws. I know animal cruelty is animal cruelty but I don't know what the police will do about it. I hope they get their animals taken away, and I will definitely have my video camera ready when the kid takes his dogs out.

 

However, it's one thing for my dog to kill their cat in our yard, but he did chase the cat and proceeded to continue into their yard and kill the cat in "their" yard. The neighbor who witnessed it said that my dog (this sounds gruesome >.

[KeepMe]

You sure as hell did the right thing. If at all possible, get a camera that has a picture or video capability and make a record if you ever see it again. Animal abuse is one of the early signs of serial killers and psychopaths, and that needs to be handled. Those kids need to be taught a lesson. If I was their mother, I would have worn their backsides out.

 

That's what I told my family that kids like that don't have a good future. It's sad to call a kid such things as I did in my post but I really hate those kids. When I went over to speak to their mother the kid answered the door and just stared at me with a dirty look. Never said anything I had to say "Can I speak with your parents" and he huffed and said "Who are you?" and I said "I want to speak with your mother or guardian right now" he just rolled his eyes and closed the door on me and his mother came to the door and she had the same damn look! She was like "Yes??" Like I was inconveniencing her in someway. I really just wanted to smack their dirty looks off of each of them, they are just disgusting lazy people.

[Anonymous122]

Lazy, worthless parents breed lazy, worthless children. Its unfortunate that people like this exist; people who have absolutely no common decency or ability to act like a polite, respectful human being. The world would be better off without them.

[latitudezero]

Yes, you did the right thing. They way their children treat your dog is completely unacceptable. Yes, your dog killed their cat, but you cannot control how animals interact with each other. If your yard is fenced and you walk your dog on a leash, then you are fine.

[Lamprey]

Build a tall, solid (non-see through) fence between you and your neighbors. That way, they won't be able to touch your dog and at the same time you won't see what they're doing with theirs. Their dog is their business, so my take is - stay out of their affairs, they'll stay out of yours.

 

What are you really going to do, tell the police they're abusing their dog? They'll say they were playing, and with no marks on the animal nothing's going to happen. All you'll achieve, other than making yourself feel better for a while, is piss off your neighbors.

[SpeedingCars]

Yeah, I think you should build a stronger fence so they can't mess with your dog Poor thing.

 

However, I DO think it is your business if they are abusing their dog! That is animal cruelty. We can't turn our head the other way when we see abuse or violence, pretending like we don't see anything. If you see them harming someone or harming their dog, I think it is your job as a good samaritan to call the authorities.

 

So yes, you did the right thing.

[browneyedgirl36]

You did the right thing by calling the police, for sure. They sound like terrible people, and kids abusing animals is often a sign of psychological issues, so I'd hate to see what those kids are like when they grow up.

 

As a cat person, I admit I cringed when I read that your dog killed their cat (though you don't know for sure since you didn't actually see it, and there are probably a LOT of dogs in the neighborhood), especially since he killed the cat on their property, but...ALL people should be responsibile for their pets, and just because cats aren't required to be leashed doesn't mean that their owners aren't responsible for where they go and what they do. If they were that concerned about their cat, they wouldn't have let it roam around everywhere, putting it in danger of attacks by other animals, getting hit by cars, etc. I don't believe in "outdoor" cats at all, unless perhaps the owners live in rural areas.

 

I suspect that, if you were going to be sued, it would have happened by now. You said this happened in August? If so, I would think you would have gotten served with court papers for municipal court, or a letter from a lawyer, something -- if they cared that much, they would have moved on it pretty quickly. Also: I'm not sure where you live, but...in California, for example, you can pretty much only be sued for what the person paid for the animal and any vet bills, if there were any. Since the cat was dead, I doubt there were any vet bills, and most likely, they'd only be able to sue you for the cost of the cat. Other than purebreds, people don't spend a lot to buy cats -- I paid $60 to adopt one of mine. My understanding is that a judge will rarely -- if ever -- award someone money for "pain and suffering" or punitive damages in cases like this. So, worst case scenario, if you were to be sued, the person would get almost nothing, if anything at all. Chances are, they didn't think it was worth suing over.